The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-02-16
life in che Ashtabula disaster in 1876 is now
stated to have heen one hundred six.

life in the Ashtabula disaster in 1876 is now
stated to have been one hundred six.
In the glazing headlines of the Boston pa
pers, announcing the loss of a beloved and
respected citizen of St. Johnsbury in the
Hartford railroad disaster, we are furnished
with another illustration Of one phase OF
newspaper enterprise on the part OF ire
sponsible reporters that so frequently dis
gusts the people at large with the whole
fraternity. The dispatch was sent from
Hartford, the immediate scene of the events
described, and has the appearance of being
cut out of whole cloth, none of the parties
referred to nor any member of their families
being at any time in that vicinity.-SL
JohnSbuuy Cdiedonidn.
IT is stated by reporter of the Spring
field Republican that the telegraph service at
the Junction was excellent, four or five ex-
ira operators having been put on for the
emergency. With two exceptions, the same
reporter speaks of the management of the
railway officials as admirable. He says:
"Thev organized the recovery of bodies and
the care of the wounded in very short time,
and most thoroughly. The care of the sick
has been unremitting and the ice has been
almost literally 'raked with fine-tooth
comb so that the chances of recovering
more valuables or bodies is very slight. The
heads of departments, too, have treated pub
lie and press in a courteous and accomodat-
ing spirit"
at Hartford was completed Saturday night
and Sunday 1t was successfully tested The
trestle work is substantially built and the
structure Is pronounced TO be rs safe as any
bridge on the road. The traffic across
White river, which was interrupted by the
burning of the Woodstock bridge, was re-
sumed Monday morning and all Central
Vermont through passenger trains which
ran via Wells River during the break now
run over the old route. 1t is a noteworthy
fan OF hat 1,ar r,..1
passengers to Montreal the past week than
during any carnival week in previous years,
many Montreal passengers subjecting them
selves to the trouble incident to the transfer
at the scene of the wreck.
THERE have been some absurd calcula-
tons about the amount of loss to the rail-
road, the estimates of some persons ranging
from 100000 to $1,000000. But, according
to the financial articles in the Boston papers,
the drop in the Consolidated Vermont stock
on account of the disaster has been less
than was expected, with prospect of an
early recovery Gt has already rallied five
points,, and no one has put the total cost of
the accident above 100000. 1t is likely to
be very much less. One paper says The
cost of the accident will, from all accounts,
be very heavy, but it is not likely to affect
payment of interest on the bonds. The net
earnings for the year ending June 30, 1886,
were nearly $4,000 in excess of fixed
charges, and will probably be larger this
year. Payments of claims will also be ex-
tended along over several years"
SUPERINTENDENT MULLIGAN's evidence
before the commissioners showed that the
truck, or some portion of it, was off the track
some distance back from the first broken
rail, and an irregular line of marks on ties
before the rail was reached were shown to
be the marks Of wheels similar to what
would be made if the axle was broken be-
fore the rail was reached When the COM
missioners examined the road-bed leading
to the bridge it was found that the tracks of
the tlanges upon the ties showed that from
the first place where the ties bore marks of
the wheels clear to the bridge the trucks
kept going farther to the right, so that when
the bridge was reached the right hand
wheels must have struck off the side of the
bridge directly from the abutment. Thus
the eight-inch guard timbers which were
shown to be on all bridges of the Central
Vermont could have been no protection, or
even any kind of similar device.-PreSS
Dispatch.
A PARTY of Boston capitalists have quietly
undertaken to solve the problem of the
safety of railroad passengers by the con-
structiOn of steel car, which will neither
smash splinter nor burn, and expect to
have a sample ready for inspection and
trial in two months. The car will be built
entirely of malleabe steel and in sort of
cylindrical form, thoroughly braced, so that
1t will be almost impossible to crush it.
II ldCeS Will Dc SilpDlleu uuueT iue CdIS,
connected with hot air pipes running
through the sides, and thorough ventilation
will be secured. The upholstery will be
chemically treated so as to resist fire, and
the seats will be so bolted to the framework
of the car that it will be almost impossible
for them to break loose There will be no
wood work TO splinter or burn, and the
platforms will be so built as to prevent
telescoping. 1t is claimed that such car
can be built at cost no greater than that
OF the present wooden car.
ACCORDING to the laws of this state, and /
presume it is so in others, common carriers
are not liable for injury to persons, unless
the result of negligence upon the part of the
carrier. Carriers are not insurers. This is
right, but there should be law that would
make it negligence for carriers not to fur
nish safer means of heating cars than they
now do. The recent accident upon the Cen
trail Vermont was one for which the COM
pany cannot be held morally or, probably,
legally responsible as they furnish the same
means of heating cars as do the best roads
in the United States, and it is extremely
doubtful if the in ured could lawfully claim
damages of the company. The loss to the
railroad company has been much overestim-
ated. The cars and bridge were fully insured
and there has been but little interruption to
traffic. 1t is thought that the earnings of
the road for the last seven months. in excess
of the interest will nearly, if not quite, meet
the cost of the accident and owners of con-
soils need have no fear but that the interest
on them can and will be paid promptly.
Such is the opinion of well-informed parties
here Huntington Cor. Boston Journal
Two brutally selfish individuals turned
up alive in the accident. One was Provi-
dence man who was in the smoking-car, and
so escaped injury. After the accident he
slowly walked over the bridge two or three
times, and then went down the embankment
and looked at the burning wreck awhile,
but offered no assistance, and finally went
to the Paine house, where he made himself
comfortable. The other man. whose name
is not known, was in the same car with
Polly Arel of Chicopee, Mass, who escaped
with slight injuries. When she had sue
coed in getting her body half way out of a
car window this man pulled her back and
said: " Let me get out first, and then | will
assist you out" He was comparatively
cool and deliberate in making his escape.
After getting out this man calmly walked
away and paid not the slightest heed to the
pitiful supplication of Polly Arel, who,
however, managed to get out alone. After.
ward she states she saw this man deliber-
ately pick the pockets of the dead. Joseph
Maigret, the French-Canadian boy, also had
an experience with this same contemplate
rascal. He saw him enter the car where his
father was hopelessly pinned down by heavy
seats and pick the pockets of several per-
sons.